Frequently asked questions

Does Wineport handle sales tax?

Sales tax and excise tax are two different things, and Wineport focuses on the second. Sales tax — the percentage collected from the customer at checkout — is typically handled by your storefront (for example, Shopify Tax or Avalara on Shopify).

Wineport handles the excise tax: the volume-based tax a winery owes the state on the alcohol itself, calculated per gallon. That’s the piece your storefront doesn’t cover, and it’s central to DTC compliance. In short, Wineport is the compliance layer that sits alongside your store, not a replacement for it.

Does Wineport file and pay my taxes for me?

Not today. Wineport calculates the excise tax you owe, generates a per-state report, and gives you the filing instructions — where to file, the portal link, and any state-specific notes. You submit the return and pay the state yourself.

This is deliberate: Wineport is a compliance tool, not a licensed filing intermediary. Pre-filled, human-approved filing prep is on our roadmap, but the product today is calculate-and-instruct.

Will Wineport remind me before a filing is due?

Yes. Wineport tracks the excise tax filing deadline for every state you ship to, based on each state’s filing frequency, and emails you before each one — 14 days out, 3 days out, and the day it’s due by default. You can adjust which reminders you get in Settings.

If a state requires a zero return even when you had no shipments, you can opt into reminders for those too. You can also add a second email address to loop in your accountant or bookkeeper. The same system sends license renewal reminders before each permit expires.

How do the real-time compliance holds work?

When you connect a store, Wineport checks each incoming order against state DTC rules in real time. If an order fails a check — shipping to a state where you can’t legally ship, or to an international address — Wineport places a hold on that order’s fulfillment in your store, pausing it until you review it.

Your store still does the fulfilling; Wineport gates it. You can review a flagged order and either release it (let it ship) or reject it. Compliant orders pass straight through, with excise tax already calculated at the verified state rate.

What happens to a held order after I add the missing license?

Wineport re-checks it for you. If an order was held only because a permit or license was missing, adding that license (or the permit state) prompts Wineport to re-evaluate your held and not-yet-shipped orders for that state — and the order that would now pass surfaces as ready for you to review and release.

It works the other way too: if a license expires, orders that already passed but haven’t shipped are flagged as no longer compliant, so nothing slips through. Wineport surfaces these for your review and never auto-ships or auto-cancels — releasing an order is always your call.

Can I install Wineport from the Shopify App Store?

Yes. Wineport is listed on the Shopify App Store, and you can install it in one click. It connects to the store you already have — you keep your storefront and your license — and starts importing orders and checking each one against state DTC rules right away, with anything risky flagged in your Shopify admin.

You’ll find it at apps.shopify.com/wineport-dtc-compliance.

How do I turn on the storefront age gate?

The age gate comes with the Wineport Shopify app. Once Wineport is installed, open your Shopify admin and go to Online Store → Themes → Customize, then click the App embeds icon at the bottom of the left toolbar and toggle on “Wineport Age Gate.”

From there you can set the age, headline, logo, colors, button text, and how long a visitor is remembered — no code or theme edits required. Click Save and the gate goes live on your storefront, greeting visitors before they can shop and remembering who has already confirmed.

Does the age gate feed Wineport’s compliance check?

Yes. When a visitor confirms they’re of legal drinking age, Wineport records that attestation on their Shopify order. Wineport’s compliance check reads it and notes on the order that the customer attested to being 21 or older, and that entry shows up — cryptographically signed — in your audit log.

To be clear about what it is: an age gate is a customer attestation (they clicked to confirm), not verified ID. It’s recorded that way, and an adult signature is still required at delivery. You can turn attestation recording on or off in the age gate’s settings.

Do I have to use Shopify?

No. The deep, real-time integration — automatic order import and live compliance holds — works with Shopify today. If you’re not on Shopify, you can still use Wineport by importing your orders from a CSV or Excel export, with smart column mapping that handles whatever format your system produces.

So a winery on WineDirect, Commerce7, Square, or QuickBooks can use Wineport now via import — just not with the live hold integration yet.

Are other platform integrations coming?

Yes. Shopify is the first deep integration, and more are planned. Commerce7 — now home to WineDirect — is high on the list, since it’s where many serious DTC wineries already operate.

We’re intentionally focused rather than trying to integrate with every POS at once. The goal is deep, reliable integrations with the platforms wineries actually use, not shallow connections to everything. If there’s a platform you depend on, tell us — it helps us prioritize.

What does Wineport actually calculate the excise tax on?

Excise tax is volume-based, so Wineport converts your order quantities into gallons and applies the current state rate. Rates are verified against state agency sources, with a visible last-verified date, and updated as states change them.

Today the calculation uses the still/table-wine rate at a standard 750ml bottle. Category-specific rates (sparkling, fortified) and other bottle sizes are planned as the product grows.

How much does Wineport cost?

Wineport starts with a 15-day free trial, no card required. After that, pricing is flat and monthly — with no per-transaction fees or percentage cut of your sales. The real-time Compliance Gate is included on every plan. See the pricing section on the home page for current tiers.

How accurate are your tax rates, and who’s responsible if a rate is wrong?

Excise rates are verified against state agency sources and carry a visible last-verified date, and we update them as states change them. We take accuracy seriously because it’s the core of the product.

That said, Wineport is compliance software, not legal or tax advice. You remain responsible for your own filings, and we recommend verifying requirements with the relevant state agencies (or your compliance advisor) — the same way you would with any tax tool. Wineport is built to make that work faster and less error-prone, not to remove your responsibility for it.

Is my data secure? Who can see my customer information?

Your data is isolated to your own account — other Wineport users cannot see your wineries, orders, or customers. We use industry-standard protections including encryption in transit and row-level security on our database, and platform access tokens are stored securely and used only to sync your data.

We do not sell personal information. Full details are in our privacy policy.

What happens to my data if I cancel or disconnect?

You can delete a winery or your entire account at any time from Settings, which removes the associated data. If you disconnect a connected store, Wineport stops syncing from it.

We also honor platform data-deletion requests — for example, Shopify’s shop-redaction webhook, which disconnects the store and removes synced personal data associated with it. You’re never locked in.

Which states does Wineport support?

All 50. Wineport tracks each state’s DTC status — allowed, restricted, or prohibited — along with permit requirements, volume limits, and carrier rules, and applies them in compliance checks. Excise rates are verified against agency sources for the large majority of states, with the rest based on published reference data and updated as we verify them.

Do I still need my compliance lawyer or filing service?

Wineport is designed to work alongside professional help, not replace your judgment. It handles the repetitive calculation, tracking, and deadline work, and gives you clear reports and filing instructions — which can reduce what you need to pay others to do manually.

For complex legal questions, license strategy, or situations unique to your business, your compliance attorney or advisor is still the right call. Think of Wineport as the tool that does the heavy lifting so the expert hours go where they matter.

How long does setup take, and can I see a demo first?

Setup is quick: create an account, add your winery and the states you ship to, and either connect your store or import your orders. Most of the value — tax reports, deadline tracking, license reminders — is available right away.

If you’d rather see it first, we’re happy to walk you through a live demo. Email info@wineport.app and we’ll set one up.